New York-based playwright/actor/composer Nick Blaemire first captured attention with “Glory Days,” his one-act musical produced in 2008 at Signature Theatre in Arlington, Virginia, shortly after he graduated from the University of Michigan. The music and lyrics were set to a book by longtime friend James Gardiner and staged by Eric Schaeffer. Matthew Gardiner, James Gardiner’s twin, was an assistant director on the original production.
Mr. Blaemire and Matthew Gardiner have once again joined forces at Signature for “Soon,” a musical supported in part by a grant from the Virginia Commission for the Arts and the National Endowment for the Arts.
The premise of the plot, Mr. Blaemire told The Washington Times, is climate change.
“The story behind ’Soon’ came to me when I was thinking how to dramatize a moment in time,” he said. “Charlie [played by Broadway actress Jessica Hershberg] is preparing for the end of the world. At the same time, she is falling in love with someone and wonders if she should leave her apartment for love. It’s a simple idea, and yet her decision is complicated.
“Many young people look at the world as a tragic place, and often we don’t know why we try, but then we consider the life-affirming reasons to continue and connect with the little things we love. Charlie is waiting for the end of the world with her three favorite things: peanut butter, Wolf Blitzer and her fish, Hershel.
“The peanut butter is the symbol for her boyfriend, who enjoys junk food. Hershel, the Jewish fish her boyfriend gives her, ends up in a pint glass jar Charlie can see through. Wolf Blitzer is the Jiminy Cricket of the show. She trusts him like a dad. He presents the outside world as Charlie sees it, as a place of climate change that changes the way we have been. The 24-hour news cycle on CNN shows what it does to our society.”
The story Mr. Blaemire created for “Soon” is as complex as his composing process, which relies on a mix of guitar and piano and a mind that leaps ahead of his hands. He hears the notes, he explains, as a claustrophobic sound inside his brain that grows into an intricate musical puzzle. Since completing the score and book six years ago, he has mad significant changes after undergoing several workshops — so much so that at least 25 percent of the show is different from its incarnation a year ago.
“When I finally went back to it, I was scared, so I spent time not thinking or judging, just looking at the script intellectually,” he said. “That approach enabled the show to fight back and tell us what it wants to be. This is like nothing we have seen because events are told out of order as we piece the story together. It’s an epic journey through the mind, and my goal is to tell a hopeful story. Matt delineates where we are in the past, present and future through the lighting.”
He submitted the script to Signature not knowing what the reaction would be. He need not have worried, as Mr. Gardiner welcomed the complexity.
“’Soon’ is a rich, complicated piece on many levels,” he said. “Nick takes many dimensions, metaphors and subjects to task in this simple story about a girl making a simple decision. The challenge to me is that, on the surface, it’s a depressing story about a girl giving up, but we won’t allow that to happen. Instead, it has become a funny, entertaining story, and Charlie emerges as an exciting, funny person. Nick has a way of writing heartfelt characters that make me feel I know them, and his stories speak to people. This one reminds the audience that there is always hope.”
Between “Glory Days” and “Soon,” Mr. Blaemire wrote “A Little More Alive,” which debuted last year at the Kansas City Repertory Theatre. The pop musical delves into the dilemma of estranged brothers meeting at their mother’s funeral and discovering unexpected secrets about her. It was well-received and is slated for a future engagement.
“Soon” runs at Signature in tandem with the premiere of “Kid Victory” by John Kander and Greg Pierce, to the delight of Mr. Blaemire, an unabashed fan of Mr. Kander.
“Meeting and getting to know John is the most surreal thing,” he said. “He has been doing daring works for years that connect with people, and at 88 he is still doing that in a fresh, original way. When we meet between rehearsals, it’s like picking up a conversation with an old friend.”
IF YOU GO
WHAT: “Soon” by Nick Blaemire
WHERE: Signature ARK Theatre, 4200 Campbell Ave., Arlington, VA, 22206
WHEN: Through April 26
INFO: Tickets $40 and up by calling 703/573-SEAT or going to Signature-Theatre.org
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